Infant Mortality and Twins

In the Igbo Tribe

Giving Birth to twins in the Igbo tribe is seen as disgrace.

If a mother gave birth to twins they were killed by abandonment in the community's "evil forest"

Believed that infant mortality is a reason spirits come back to earth to finish unaccomplished “missions".
A child will live for a certain amount of years and when he or she becomes useful he or she dies.
After a baby dies the family searches for a “diviner” or medicine man who specializes in reading with oracle bones, which is considered an act of God.
Infant mortality is also considered witchcraft in some cases.

It was believed that multiple births should only occur when animals give birth, and humans should only have single births.
After the mother had multiple births she would go through cleansing rituals to rid herself of the abomination of the twins.
Twins are regarded as less than human and were always put to death.
More twins are born in the area of the Igbo tribe than anywhere else on Earth.
Most people in the Igbo tribes are not wealthy therefore raising twins would be very difficult because resources are scarce in the first place.

Works Cited
"Igbo People." KWENU: Our Culture, Our Future. Web. 04 Nov. 2009. <http://www.kwenu.com/igbo/igbowebpages/Igbo.dir/People/Igbo_people.html>.

"Igbo culture -." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Web. 04 Nov. 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igbo_culture>.

"Religion and the Igbo People." Queen's University Belfast | Home. Web. 04 Nov. 2009. <http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofEnglish/imperial/nigeria/religion.htm>.

"The Land Of Twins | BBC World Service." BBC - Homepage. Web. 04 Nov. 2009. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/people/highlights/010607_twins.shtml>.

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